Trolley



(No Model.)

0. -E. POWELL.

TROLLEY.

Patented June 30, 1896.

ANDRSW 5 GRMAMYPMUIO UTHO WASMINUOILDC UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. POWELL, OF BRYN MAWR, PENNSYLVANIA.

TROLLEY.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 562,972, dated June 30, 1896.

Application filed September 19, 1895. Serial No. 563,020. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. POWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bryn Mawr, in the county of Montgomery and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolleys; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates generally to electric railways, and particularly to an improved construction of overhead trolley.

The object of myinvention is to provide a trolley which will be safe at all times and will not swing to either side and cause the roller to jump the wire.

Another object is to construct a trolley which will not have to be reversed every time the motion of the car is reversed, and a still further object is to provide a trolley which can readily accommodate itself to passages beneath bridges, through tunnels, and the like.

With these objects in view, and such others as may hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the peculiar construction of the various parts and their novel combination, which will be fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved trolley. Figs. 2 and 3 show details of construction.

In carrying out my invention I employ a frame attached to the top of the car and carryin g a trolley-wheel, said frame being hinged to the top of the car, and has all its joints hinged so it can be pressed down in either direction whenever desired, said frame being normally held in an upright position by suitable springs. In constructing this frame I employ four standards A, which are secured one at each corner of a board A, attached to the top of the car, and in order to pivotally connect said standards and board I provide the hinge-couplings a, composed of the fixed member a and the swinging member (0 the standards A being connected with members a by a screw-joint. These standards are arflanges g at each end.

ranged in parallel pairs, and between the forward and rear pairs I arrange brace-rods B B, connected by suitable screw-joints. The forward standards are connected at their upper ends to a hinge-coupling O, and the rear standards are connected with a similar one, said couplings comprising the members 0 and c, and connected to each member a is a rod D, extending toward each other, and bifurcated at their inner ends, as shown at cl, and connecting said ends is a plate E, having a guide F upon its upper face, and seated in said guide is the j ournal-bearin g G, held against movement by means of plates or The bearing G has seats at each end, as at g, and resting therein are the squared ends of the trolley-journal H, upon which the trolley I revolves, and to the ends of this journal H are attached the conductor wires K, by means of suitable binding-posts k.

Connecting the rods D from beneath is the truss-rod L, carrying a post- M, upon which the plate E rests, the purpose of said trussrod and post being to prevent the trolleybeing pushed down toward the center of car.

The rods D D are inclined slightly upward, so that the trolley is supported about eighteen inches or two feet above the ends of frame.

Each standard A has a spring N connected therewith in order to hold the frame in an upright position. When it is desired to remove the trolleyfrom the wire, the frame can be moved in either direction, and as the main joints are hinged said frame will swing down and leave the wire. This folding frame also permits the trolley passing under a bridge or through a tunnel, and at each end of the frame, preferably upon the coupling 0, I mount a trolley I, as shown in Fig. 1, which is similar in all respects to the trolley I hereinbefore described, and mounted at the adjacent ends of the rods D, the plates F supporting these couplings being mounted upon the coupling-plates C in the same manner that the before-mentioned trolley-supporting plate F is mounted upon the central plate E. These trolleys, it will thus be seen, serve also the additional function of antifriction-rollers, so that when the frame comes to a tunnel or bridge the folding or compression will be gradual, and the bridge will not strike the frame proper.

All of the parts are so united that any of them could be quickly removed and replaced in case of accident.

Where in the claims I mention the frame I Wish to be understood as referring to the standards and the rods extending from the upper ends thereof to support the operating parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a trolley, the combination with the standards, of the hinge-couplings at their upper and lower ends, the connecting rodsand plate, and the trolley carried on said plate, and the antifriction-rollers at the upper ends of said standards, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination with the standards hinged to a board on the top of car, the hingecouplings and connecting-rods, the connecting-plate having a guide, the journal-bearing and journal, and the trolleys at the center and ends of the top portion, all arranged substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination with a trolley, of the journal having extended ends carrying bindupon said plate, of antifriction-rollers at each end of said frame, substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination with the hinged frame, of the spring holding the same in normal position, the trolley-wheel and journal,the trussrod and post, and the antifriction-rollers, all arranged substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES E. POIVELL.

\Vitnesses:

Louis G. RANDALL, WM. L. FORD. 

